The Chinese government on Wednesday pointed to a US "provocation" after the incident between a Chinese fighter jet and a US military reconnaissance aircraft operating over the South China Sea.
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These provocative and dangerous maneuvers are the source of maritime security problems," said Mao Ning, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, saying that "the United States should immediately stop these dangerous provocations."
'An aggressive maneuver'
The U.S. military said Tuesday that a Chinese fighter jet pilot performed "an unwarranted aggressive maneuver" near a U.S. military reconnaissance aircraft operating over the South China Sea. The incident comes at a time of already high tensions between Beijing and Washington over issues such as Taiwan or the overflight of a Chinese balloon over US territory earlier this year. "The United States' frequent and long-term dispatch of ships and aircraft to conduct close surveillance of China seriously undermines China's sovereignty and national security," Mao Ning said Wednesday. "China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and security," she said.
According to the US military's Indo-Pacific Command (IndoPacom), the Chinese aircraft flew on Friday "directly in front and within 120 meters of the nose of the RC-135, forcing the US aircraft to cross turbulence in its wake". The RC-135, a military reconnaissance aircraft, "conducted routine operations safely over the South China Sea and within international airspace, in accordance with international law," IndoPacom said. Video footage released shows a fighter jet passing in front of an American plane, which is seen shaken by the turbulence following this passage.
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A senior U.S. military official speaking on condition of anonymity said there was "an alarming increase in the number of interceptions and risky aerial confrontations at sea" by Chinese aircraft and ships. Such acts "can create a dangerous incident or miscalculation," he added. "We do not consider that (these interceptions) are carried out by pilots operating independently," the senior official said. "We see this as part of a larger pattern of repetition." A similar incident involving a Chinese fighter jet and a US RC-135 had already taken place in December, forcing the US aircraft to "perform evasive maneuvers to prevent a collision," IndoPacom said at the time.
'The United States is responsible'
The latest incident comes a day after the Pentagon claimed Beijing had declined the U.S. invitation for a meeting this week in Singapore between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Li Shangfu. But, according to the senior US official, the two announcements are not linked. Asked on Wednesday about this, the Chinese Ministry of Defense neither confirmed nor denied having declined this invitation.
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China attaches great importance to the development of China-U.S. military relations and communication at all levels," ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said in a statement. But "the United States is fully responsible for the current difficulties in exchanges between the two militaries," the statement added. "On the one hand, the U.S. keeps saying it wants to strengthen communication, but on the other hand, it ignores China's concerns and artificially creates obstacles, seriously damaging mutual trust between the two militaries."
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Lloyd Austin and other U.S. officials are working to strengthen U.S. alliances in Asia to counter Beijing's increasingly assertive actions in the region, though both sides have also at times played appeasement. White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Vienna in May. And U.S. President Joe Biden recently indicated that relations between Washington and Beijing should "very soon" relax.
